There's Ice in My Soup
by gloriouscommunistcoat
Summary: Karkat seems to be hung up on a boy he met working at a flower shop. Human/Flower Shop AU. Rated M for sexual content to come.
1. The Boy at the Flower Shop: Part One

Karkat slammed open the door to the flower shop, making it ring a sickening jingle as he stomped in. Fucking Sollux and his need for flowers, God damn asshole couldn't even get his own without breaking into pathetically weak tears. It was disgusting. Grumbling to himself as he looked over the much too bright flowers, the short boy looked around, finding them all to be completely irritating. How was he even convinced to get them for his 'friend' anyway? Oh right, he offered to buy him tickets to that new movie coming out. Fuck him and his money.

Slowly walking around the rows of flowers, Karkat was told he was looking for violets; only problem was that he had no fucking clue what those looked like at all. How was he supposed to know different types of flowers anyway? That was just stupid. This was all stupid. Who would open a flower shop anyway? You could just pick perfectly fine flowers out in a field. Grumbling all of this to himself, Karkat almost ran head-on into another boy, slightly taller, with a very dorky smile to his face.

John, noticing that he had almost run smack into what he figured was a customer and not another homeless person looking for some water, or something like that. Though, he didn't look like a homeless person, even if he was looking very angry... which John thought was pretty cute in a very much not homosexual way.

"Hi there! Can I help you with anything?" John asked, smiling in a way that made Karkat's gut twist. No one could be that happy working in a flower shop. No one.

Yet for some reason that nerdy little voice made his heart flutter as he turned to glare up at the boy, a prominent frown fixed on his face. "Where the fuck are your violets?" Karkat hissed, narrowing his eyes at the boy, who didn't seem fazed by it at all; he just kept smiling down at him.

"Oh! Right over here, follow me!" John was soon hurrying off between some flowers, moving easily through the leaves and the blooming buds, where Karkat nearly stumbled a good few times, and was practically panting by the time they arrived at the rows upon rows of little purple flowers. More than a bit thankful that he didn't have to wander around this store that smelled sickeningly like morning dew, the angry boy grabbed the flowers and started to head to the cash without so much of a thank you... not that John minded, or at least, it didn't look like he minded; he was just still smiling that dorky grin of his.

Why was he so happy anyway? For some reason it was really bothering Karkat, it just made his glaring more intense as he ended up standing at the cash register, just staring the other young man down.

"So, uhh, cash or credit?" John was the one to finally break the silence; he was getting a little uncomfortable with all this angry staring. Did he have a big 'fuck you' written on his forehead again? God damn it, if Dave had pulled something like that again he was seriously going to kill him. Thankfully, though, Karkat seemed to snap out of it all and pulled out his wallet, paying for it in cash, and then stomping out of the store back to the house he shared with his moping roommate.

-Later that night-

It was bad enough that he actually had to go out in the morning on his day off, but now he found himself rolling about in bed, trying to get at least a minute of sleep before having to wake up and go to his almost useless low paying job the next morning. Giving a low growl into his pillow, Karkat shoved his head under it, closing his eyes tightly and trying to force sleep upon himself. It just wasn't working, however, as every time he shut his eyes he ended up seeing that stupid derp of a smile haunting his mind.

"FUCK THIS," he finally yelled, sitting up in his bed and flinging his pillow across the room; it was obvious he wasn't getting any sleep. Getting out of bed, he made his way to the shower, a little more quietly than his normal stomping around, as he didn't want to have to deal with a woken Sollux. Quickly slipping in, he turned the heat all the way up and focused on the burning feeling rather than remembering that boy's face. Why did the mere thought of him send his heart into weird skips anyway? Had his stupid face suddenly caused a heart condition in him? He didn't understand.

Finally stepping out of the shower, Karkat moved over to his laptop, starting it up and checking the time: three in the morning... wonderful. Deciding to log into his chat system, he browsed to see who was online. He found only one who always had his icon set to 'online', so who even fucking knew if he was there. It was all a 'miracle' if he was, as he so often told him.

**carcinoGeneticist** started trolling **terminallyCapricious:**

**CG: HEY FUCKTARD. YOU BETTER FUCKING BE ON FOR ONCE.**

**TC: Oh HeLlO tHeRe My MoThErFuCkIn BeSt BrO.**

**CG: OH HOLY HELL YOU'RE ACTUALLY ON THIS LATE.**

**CG: WOW.**

**TC: It'S a MoThErFuCkIn MiRaCle!**

**CG: YEAH YEAH. SURE. WHATEVER. LOOK, I HAVE A FUCKING PROBLEM.**

**CG: WELL I HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS, SO SHUT UP.**

**TC: HaHa, DiDn'T sAy A fUcKiNg ThInG bRo.**

**CG: WHATEVER! JUST SHUT YOUR FUCKING PIE HOLE FOR A MOMENT, WOULD YOU?**

**CG: I CANT FUCKING SLEEP, IF YOUR 'HIGH AS FUCKING RAINBOWS' MIND HASN'T NOTICED, IT'S THREE IN THE FUCKING MORNING.**

**CG: I HAVE TO GET TO MY SHITTY JOB IN THE MORNING, AND I CANT FUCKING SLEEP, BECAUSE I KEEP THINKING OF THIS DICKWAD I SAW AT THE FLOWER SHOP!**

**TC: MaN, tHaT sUcKs.**

**TC: WhAt'S gOt YoUr MoThErFuCkIn hEaD aLl In A pAnIc AbOuT iT?**

**CG: IF I FUCKING KNEW THAT THEN I WOULDN'T BE ASKING YOUR DRUGGED OUT ASS ABOUT IT NOW WOULD IT?**

**CG: ALL THAT SHIT IS FUCKING WITH YOUR THINK PAN.**

**CG: ALL I KNOW IS THAT THINKING ABOUT HIM MAKES MY HEART FUCKING PALPITATE OR SOME CRAP, MAYBE HIS DORKINESS IS GIVING ME A HEART CONDITION.**

**TC: NaH mAn.**

**TC: I kNoW tHe PrObLem.**

**TG: YoU mOtHeRfUcKiN LiKe ThIs GuY.**

**CG: YOU ARE MOTHERFUCKING KIDDING ME.**

**CG: HAHAHAHAHA.**

**CG: REAL FUCKING FUNNY.**

**CG: THANKS FOR FUCKING NOTHING.**

**carcinoGeneticist ****ceased trolling ****terminallyCapricious**

Karkat slammed his computer shut, glaring at it harder than usual. There was no fucking way he was attracted to that smiling idiot. He didn't do 'love'. All of that was bullshit. But then... why was he reacting so much to Gamzee simply suggesting it? Growling at his thoughts, the steaming man pushed away from his computer and stomped down to the kitchen, grabbing a snack before settling down to watch a movie from his vast collection. There was no fucking way he liked that dork. Not one.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hi there lovelies!<em>**  
><strong><em>It is I! The Writer! <em>**  
><strong><em>Zoe, that is. <em>**  
><strong><em>I'd like to thank you for reading, and ask that if you enjoyed it (or not) please leave a review, they keep my life force going!<em>**

-Zoe


	2. The Boy at the Flower Shop: Part Two

Okay, so maybe he liked that dork a little bit, as it was the third night in a row that he was up thinking about him, and it was starting to get irritating. He had to do something about it. But what the hell was he going to do about it? He couldn't just walk back to that store and ask him on a date or anything..., could he? Was that something that people did? What if he wasn't even gay? What if he said no? What if he threw something at him!? Oh Gog, there were just way too many things that could go wrong! Curling up some more in his bed, Karkat held onto his pillow as if it was about to fly off as he watched one of his many rom-coms, hoping that maybe they would give him some sort of idea of how to go about this. It didn't seem to be working, though.

A week had passed now and he still couldn't figure out what to do, Karkat found himself wandering passed the little flower shop almost every day on the way to work, even if it was a little bit out of his way. Every time he passed he told himself that the boy had probably forgotten him by now; part of him wished that he could do the same.

Eventually, on one of his days off, Karkat wandered over as he usually did, telling himself that he was on the way to the coffee shop across the street, when he decided to actually go back into the flower shop again. The boy probably wasn't even working anyway, he told himself; he was just going in to get some flowers to stick in his room or some shit. No problem. Nothing out of the ordinary about that. As he walked in, Karkat forced himself to keep his eyes on the flowers, looking for some that stood out; that was... until he heard a hauntingly familiar voice.

"Hey! I remember you! You're the really grumpy guy who demanded violets!" Karkat whipped his head around at those words, staring up at John with wide eyes for a moment, scowl meeting a goofy grin, before Karkat turned, grunting slightly... Though inside there was a huge burst of emotions. He had remembered him! How had he remembered? There had to have been at least-

"Oh, hey..., sorry. I didn't mean anything bad...; sometimes I don't think before I speak, it's just nice to see a customer, especially a familiar one! We haven't had any for a while," John puffed, looking over the shop for a moment before back to Karkat, who had his hopes crushed a little... So that was why he remembered, just because he had been the only one in here for forever... He managed not to show his disappointment though.

"Uh..., so anyway! Hi! I'm John!" The bucktoothed teen grinned, sticking out a hand which Karkat slowly took, giving a small shake before taking his back and shoving it into his pocket, glaring up at John for a good moment before speaking up.

"My name is Karkat," he stated simply, it was really all he could manage before he stomped off, supposedly to go look for whatever he had come in for, leaving John wondering if he had said something wrong, and frowning a little as he made his way back to the cash register, perching himself on the stool there and leaning his head against his hand as he watched Karkat wander about the store. The way he stomped around was kind of adorable; John couldn't rip his eyes away for some reason..., the other man was just... alluring, somehow... in a totally heterosexual way, of course.

Karkat, forcing himself to sift through the flowers, did feel the eyes on him a little, but he didn't dare look over...; eventually just settling on getting a small sunflower, he took it over to the counter. He carefully put the pot down and reached into his pocket for the cash to pay for it, only to accidentally drop the movie tickets that Sollux had given him for tonight, to repay him for the flowers. Not noticing though, he handed the cash over to John, and turned to leave when the employee noticed the dropped tickets.

"Hey Karkat, you dropped these- holy shit, are these for the new Nic Cage movie!? Those are all sold out! Luuuuucky!" John seemed just in complete awe of the movie tickets, and Karkat couldn't help a small smile that crept up onto his face as he smoothly walked over and took his tickets back... So, this John boy liked movies? That really only made him want to get all the more closer to him. Karkat got an idea; glancing at the tickets slightly, he shifted a little nervously before sending a hard stare back towards John.

"I have an extra ticket, I suppose I could bear dragging your dorky ass along with me." Karkat grunted, managing to pull off sounding a little pissed off about it, but of course that just flew over John's head anyway, who's smile grew tenfold. It was getting to the point where Karkat was starting to think that it was going to consume his whole fucking face. Next thing he knew it would be just all smile and two giant ass buckteeth staring at him instead of those adorable oceanic eyes... Oh shit, how did those thoughts get there? Just as a small blush was rising on his cheeks, he tuned to John giving a rather nerdy cheer and nodding.

"Fuck yes! I can't wait!" He practically squealed, and the smaller teen could have sworn that the boy's voice went up an octave or two, but he didn't comment, just stating the time and that they could meet a little before to make sure that they got good seats. Heading back home to get ready, Karkat was grinning pretty wide to himself... So, maybe it wasn't technically a date, but it was one step closer, and now maybe he could get some fucking sleep or something! Hopefully not during the movie, though.

Getting home in half the time it usually took him, Karkat began the search for something to wear, feeling a little bit like a teenage girl..., which he soon got angry at himself for even thinking of making that comparison, and instead settled on a simple sweater and jeans like he usually wore. Having stuck his flower on the dining room table, Karkat tidied up just a bit, as he had told John to meet him here a bit before the movie, before sitting himself down and trying to stop his nerves, and cover up his excitement a little bit before the other teen arrived.

As he waited, he fiddled with the tickets a little bit, glad that Sollux had managed to grab two, though he had no idea why he would of..., other than the fact of his weird obsession with the number two. That was probably it. Either way, he couldn't keep his thoughts focused on much of anything other than the fact that he was going to be seeing a movie, with the boy he had been losing sleep from for almost two weeks, and that just a few hours ago didn't even know the name of.

That all sounded a little odd..., but holy shit he was going out with John.

... More or less.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Did you enjoy the second chapter?<strong>_  
><em><strong>Hope you did!<strong>__**Don't forget to drop me a line, if you want I mean, it's not like I bite!**_

**_... much._**

-Zoe


	3. They Probably Went to See Ghost Rider: S

Karkat was more or less having a panic attack as he forced himself to sit still on the living room couch, waiting for John to ascend the stairs and knock at the door. Compulsively checking the time, the boy glared over at the clock; it was five minutes past the time they were supposed to meet. Maybe John had ditched him? Starting to get worried for an all new reason, the grump of a man practically jumped a foot in the air when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Oh holy shit. He was actually there. Outside his door. About to go see a movie with him.

Swallowing hard, gathering his bravery, and smoothing down his shirt a little, Karkat moved to the door. He unlocked it and swung it open. He glared up at John with a forced scowl.

"You're late, fuckass," he huffed, stepping aside to let a slightly out of breath John in, who was sputtering something about the elevator not working and that there were a shit ton of stairs. Rolling his eyes, Karkat just shuffled to the fridge, throwing a bottle of water at him and checking the time.

"We should get going if we want to actually get semi decent seats," Karkat huffed, seeming more angry and annoyed than usual, though it was likely because he was trying to shove away that giddy, rolling feeling in his gut. Not giving John time to answer, the shorter man simply grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the apartment, slamming the door shut and heading down the stairs again.

Soon enough the two were heading away from the apartment building to the new cinema, John chatting lightly the whole time, where the other man was much more silent, until a topic came up that pissed him off and he spewed out a rant, making John grin all the more. It was pretty adorable. A man could call another man adorable without it being, like, gay..., right? Sure, John decided, of course! He was doing that just then, so there was totally not a thing to be worried about.

Getting to the movie theatre at last, Karkat was filled with a different kind of excitement. He really did like seeing movies, especially new ones, and now he had someone to watch them with as well. In his excitement, a small smile slipped passed his lips, and he grabbed onto John's hand without a thought, tugging him down to the food stand, parking himself down, and finally freeing the other boy's hand, who had a look of complete shock on his face.

"What the fuck are you looking at me like that for? Cock blower, you walk slower than a haemorrhaging snail, I had to get you over here somehow," Karkat huffed, though he was blushing ever so slightly when he realized what he had done, so instead he distracted himself by shoving his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, getting some popcorn and a drink. John just got some gushers. Why the theatre had them; he had no idea. They then made their way over to the theatre they were supposed to be in.

Both boys seemed to be very riled up for the movie, eagerly settled into their seats, even though they were at least twenty minutes early. They started to chat on about movies that they liked, though it mostly involved Karkat bad mouthing almost all of the movies that John liked, just for the Hell of it. Not that he really hated them that much; he just had to make up for what he had done before. Though John pouted about it, he didn't mind too much really, it was just the way the other man was.

As the movie started, the two silenced at last, gazing up at the large screen with wide eyes, completely focused on the movie... Well, that was of course what John thought. He, being the oblivious boy he was, was grinning stupidly up at the movie. Or at least that's what Karkat would call it, as he stared up at him, really finding him more interesting than the movie. The way he would laugh at certain points, just the look of his eyes, everything really!

Having to snap his vision back to the movie occasionally to make sure that he wasn't caught, Karkat thought about trying something on John. He really almost did, but was scared off. What if he didn't even like guys!? Frowning even more when the credits rolled down and the movie was over, he jumped slightly when John spoke up.

"Awe, you didn't like it? I thought it was great!" he pouted a bit, slowly getting up and stretching out, cracking a joint or two as he waited for Karkat, who just glared some more. Fucking dense ass, really attractive, adorable boy. Why did he even offer to take him?

"It was less than great, maybe average, there could have been a lot more focus on the romances; that would have made it better," Karkat finally huffed, getting up as well and heading out of the theatre with the usual stomp to his step. He supposed that went well enough... He did get to hold John's hand briefly.

He was never washing that hand again.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hi friendos!<strong>_  
><em><strong>Zoe here (The Writer).<strong>_  
><em><strong>Another huge thanks from me and Chisel for taking the time to read this!<strong>_  
><em><strong>We do hope you're enjoying it, and if you have any ideas or things, or even pairings that you want in the fic, do not be afraid to let us know!<strong>_  
><em><strong>We will get back to you ASAP.<strong>_  
><em><strong>A new chapter should be out soon,<strong>_  
><em><strong>Lots of love!<strong>_

-Zoe


	4. Homoerotic Antics

Okay, so Karkat did actually end up washing that hand right when he got home. He ended up grabbing onto a railing on the way up the stairs, and there was just some real gross shit on that thing. Did someone just slide their naked ass down the pole? Who would do that? Fuck, that's gross. There were obviously some really disgusting shits in this apartment building. That, or maybe someone had mud on their hand while going up, or something, he didn't know.

As a few weeks went by, Karkat had managed to grab John's number and handle for Pesterchum, and soon ended up chatting with him after work almost every day. It seemed to be making the shorter man feel oddly happy, and a little less snippy..., only a little.

John seemed to be over the Moon with his new friend, but when was he not over the Moon with things? He was more than amused with the other man's crabby behaviour, and really was looking for another excuse for them to get together, in order to deepen their completely platonic friendship. Oh wait, whoa, what was that in the paper? The fair was in town!? Oh, fuck yes! They were so going there, as his friend Dave would say, for completely ironic purposes!

Logging into Pesterchum a little too excitedly, obviously, as he misspelled his username at least three times before he got in and clicked on Karkat's username, promptly spamming his chat.

**carcinoGeneticist ****[CG]****began trolling ectoBiologist ****[EB]**

**EB: KARKAT.**

**EB: KARKAAAAAAAAT.**

**EB: KARKLES.**

**EB: KARKITTY.**

**EB: KARKAT.  
>EB: KAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR.<strong>

**CG: OH HOLY FUCK WHAT DO YOU WANT?  
>CG: WHAT THE HELL HAS GOT YOUR DICK IN A TWIST THIS TIME!?<strong>

**CG: DID YOU EAT A POUND OF YOUR FRUIT GUSHERS... AGAIN?**

**EB: what? no!**

**EB: but that was amazing... man.**

**EB: anyway!**

**EB: there's a fair in town.**

**EB: we're going.**

**CG: NO.**

**EB: yes.**

**CG: WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT TO GO TO A FAIR!?**

**EB: because!**

**EB: there's going to be cotton candy.**

**EB: and spinning rides.**

**EB: and i'm pretty sure there's going to be mini putt too.**

**EB: i've never played that before.**

**EB: aaaaaaaah!**

**EB: i want to go now!**

**EB: come on Karkles!**

**EB: let's goooooooo!**

**CG: FUCK.**

**CG: FINE, JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP.**

**CG: AND STOP FUCKING CALLING ME KARKLES.****  
><strong>**CG: WHAT THE DICK TWIDDLING FUCK KIND OF NAME IS THAT ANYWAY!?**

**EB: yay!**

**EB: okay i'll be at your house in an hour!**

**CG: WAIT WE'RE GOING RIGHT NOW?**

**ectoBiologist ****[EB]****ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist ****[CG]**

**CG: WAIT.**

**CG: FUCK, JOHN.**

**CG: I'M NOT EVEN FUCKING DRESSED.  
>CG: SHIT.<strong>

John, oblivious of Karkat as ever, rushed to get things ready to head out. Soon, having his wallet and things, he was rushing out of his house and down the streets towards Karkat's apartment. Getting there a bit early, John eagerly knocked on the door. Rocking on his feet a little as he waited for it to open, with a big dorky grin on his face, the boy was a little surprised when not Karkat, but his roommate Sollux answered, frowning down at him for a moment. Obviously he was woken by John; he was more than likely gaming all of last night.

"Hey. John, right? He's in the shower, should be out soon," Sollux stated, his lisp thicker than ever; John had to hide an even bigger grin because of it, and instead just nodded. John stepped in as the other man moved from the door to head back to his room, which was more than likely.

Going to settle on the couch, John was still very much riled up and ready to go, almost bouncing around as he heard the shower stop and some stomping around before Karkat emerged in just a towel, his hair still a little damp and clearly not expecting John to be right smack there. Freezing slightly when he did see him just lounging on the couch, the grump seemed to just stare dumbfounded. Karkat turned a rather bright red, and ran off to his room to get dressed, leaving a slightly confused John in his wake.

Wait, why was Karkat blushing? He was just topless..., and why could he feel his own face burning? They were just friends! Two guys! Who cared if they saw each other topless? It happened all the time when swimming and stuff! John was confused, and he didn't like it, so he quickly pushed it out of his mind, hopping up and practically buzzing around.

"Come on, Karkat! Why are you taking so long? Let's goooooooo already," he called through the bedroom door that the other man had dashed into, jumping back just in time as the door slammed open to show a very angry Karkat glaring up at him. Hah. That was oddly adorable. In a completely non-homosexual, friendly way of course.

"LET'S GO, PCHOOOOO!" John practically yelled, grabbing Karkat's wrist and tugging him out of his own house. The other man cursed loudly as he was dragged along, but eventually the two both calmed down a bit, heading out and catching a cab over to the fair. John practically beamed as he made his way in; Karkat looked much less thrilled, but on the inside he was more than thrilled that he was going to a fair, with John. At a fair. WITH JOHN. They were going to eat cotton candy, and go on the Ferris wheel and... maybe THINGS WOULD HAPPEN?

"Karkat, come teach me how to play mini-putt! I mean, you should know how to play, what with how short you are," John called from a little ways away.

Karkat was going to fucking kill this dork.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hi friendos!<em>**  
><strong><em>Hope you like this chapter! More fun things will be happening in the next, and after that? Oooooh that's when the real good stuff happens.<em>**  
><strong><em>And there SHOULD be a chapter out each week, so keep your eyes open lovelies!<em>**  
><strong><em>Thanks for reading, hope to hear from you guys~!<em>**  
><strong><em>Lotsa love!<em>**

-Zoe**_  
><em>**


	5. More Homoerotic Antics

Stomping over to where John was lined up to pay for a round of the little golfing game, Karkat seemed to realize something about halfway there that more than likely spared John's life. Moving to stand behind the other boy, his mind was racing over all the movies that he had watched before this moment..., and he had watched a lot, so his brain was working faster than Sollux's hyped up on twenty cans of Red Bull. Actually putting the rom-coms he nearly slaved over to collect to use for once (other than counselling his pathetic friend's love lives), Karkat had an idea; a very good idea indeed.

Staying mostly quiet, save for a grumble or two whenever John brought up Karkat's height. Come on, he was only a few inches... Six... Maybe a head... shorter than John... SHUT UP. Karkat waited in line, glaring at the ground slightly with his arms crossed over his chest, looking pretty darn cute, John thought in a completely no-homo-enforced way. Finally getting their little golf clubs and colourful balls, Karkat made his way down to the first mini course. Putting the ball so that it climbed up the little hill, past the stupid rainbow windmill, and stopping at a gnome that seemed to stare into your soul every time you glanced at it. The truly shorter of the two stepped aside, glaring up at John to make his move.

"Wow John. Just wow. How did you even manage to do that? Like how can you be so terrible at something that _children _play? How is that even possible? It's a putter, not a baseball bat!" It didn't take long for Karkat to react to John's hit at all. Well, seeing as he shot the ball practically to the other end of the course, how could he not? John on the other hand, really hoped that he could have... Of course, that just wasn't the case. Blushing ever so slightly, the young man gave a bit of a chuckle, soon running off to get the ball back, he seemed to be getting very good at just ignoring Karkat..., though once or twice a few of the things the other man said did kind of hurt. John was sure that he didn't mean it though, at least he hoped.

"Well then, grumpy, why don't you show me how? Seeing as you seem to be the, 'Oh-so great champion leader of mini-putting,'" John smirked a little at that, or at least he tried to, but it just seemed to turn into yet another one of his goofy smiles. Karkat, on the other hand, did give a damn good smirk at that, remembering his plan and seeming to puff up a bit proudly.

"Why the fuck do you say it like that? I am the grand champion of mini-putting and I WILL show you how it's done, as you seem to be functioning just about as well as a one legged giraffe with a depth perception issue," Karkat huffed back, soon moving closer to John. Okay..., right. Here it goes, just going to... Right. Karkat wouldn't normally psych himself up to doing something like this, but in this case he was crushing on his friend harder than a boulder on top an egg. Karkat carefully put a hand over John's, possibly being a little too rough, to make up for his cheeks starting to burn a good bit. He moved John's arms to properly hold the club, assuming the position of a slight hug around the other man, while at the same time standing himself up on the tips of his toes to be able to see over his shoulder. Moving John's arms to gently hit the ball over the tiny hill, past the rainbow windmill, and creeper gnome, Karkat jumped back when suddenly the taller man gave a loud, happy, cheer as the ball rolled into the hole.

"HOLE IN ONE! HAH!" John cried out happily, louder than he usually already was, mainly to try to surprise Karkat into backing off a bit, which worked. Thankfully. Really it wasn't that John didn't like it, it was the opposite actually... He really did like it... a little too much. Why did he like the other man so close like that? Maybe because he was warm. Yeah..., that had to be it! Definitely not anything more than that! How could it be more than that? He wasn't gay, and neither was Karkat! So why did the shorter man still have a blush on his cheeks? Maybe he was getting a sunburn, or something. John decided to go with that, even though the sky was pretty well clouded over..., and it was the middle of fall.

Karkat on the other hand, almost toppling back from the sudden shout, scoffed slightly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He had a taste of being near the other man, and now he only wanted more..., but how could he do that anyway? John seemed to be rather skittish, and Karkat still wasn't too sure if he was interested in that kind of thing. Maybe another plan would present itself in due time? He wasn't sure, but instead he swore and grumbled slightly that John's hole in one shouldn't count as technically he did it, and went about finishing their game, marking the cards.

Going forth to explore the rest of the carnival when they finished their game, Karkat seemed to have gotten bored part way through it and just let John win. They soon found their way to a little area with picnic tables, and settled down with some cotton candy. It was getting a little dark out, and to be honest, Karkat was getting pretty worn out of rides that went much too fast. He was happy to be able to slouch over the table, picking at the questionably edible fluff by his hand, when suddenly there was a shrill ringing from the phone in his pocket.

Scrambling to pull out the old worn out flip phone that was making the awful noise, Karkat managed to check the number before hitting answer. It was Gamzee. Who knew what to expect whenever he called? Karkat certainly didn't really expect what came next, though it wasn't one of his stranger calls, thankfully.

"Hey my motherfuckin' bro, wanna come to a party?" Gamzee's deep, gravelly voice asked through the phone. Really, there was no way that 'no' was going to be an acceptable answer to this.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay, so I was rather late on this one.<strong>_  
><em><strong>A week late to be exact.<strong>_  
><em><strong>Sorry about that... got sick and just procrastinated the shit out of it all.<strong>_  
><em><strong>Sooo I shall try not to do that again!<strong>_

_**Thank you to all the lovely reviewers! Keep them coming please! I need them to stay motivated and such! **_

_**Lotsa love!**_

-Zoe

_(ps. I'm not sorry for all the cliffhangers)_

_**Who would have thought that mini-putt could be so intimate?**_

-Chisel


	6. An Invitation from the Faygo-Man

By the end of that lovely phone call that lasted at least thirty minutes longer than it should have..., or at least that was what it felt like to Karkat, he felt like smashing his face into the table he was still sitting at with John. He was watching with mild interest as his friend seemed to curse slightly into the phone in a surprisingly hushed voice before slamming the device down..., and then his head as well, making the taller young gent jump slightly.

"Uhhh..., Karkat..., you okay there buddy?" John asked, a little tentatively, finding only a muffled groan in response. Watching in avid amusement as the messy haired man just seemed to grumble to himself, though John was getting more and more curious as to what had set him off on the phone. He was getting a little bit worried, actually. Thankfully though, he wasn't kept waiting long as Karkat seemed to come alive in a burst once more, looking rather peeved.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT ALL," he roared in a rather loud voice, making a few strangers' heads turn to them, not that Karkat cared at all, though it did make John blush ever so slightly, hoping that there were no kids around to hear that little outburst, or to hear whatever colourful language was coming next. John was a little afraid to ask what went on in that phone call of his. Sure, Karkat had a bit of a thing about ever reacting..., but... you never really knew what to expect when you did find out what he was reacting to, John was starting to discover.

"Karkat! Shoosh! There're little kiddies around..., and elderly... What's going on, anyway?" John decided to bite the bullet before Karkat started up on his creative language again and forever scar more children..., and their parents.

"Don't shoosh me, you dickwad!" Well, it appeared John had made it slightly worse..., but at least it wasn't as loud..., and it seemed Karkat did ease down a little as he groaned slightly, frowning a little deeper than he usually did. "My pothead of a friend apparently needs to see me as soon as possible..., with something about a party? He better just be having a bad trip, there is no way I'm going to one of his stupid ass parties confirmed to destroy at least half of your brain cells with its sheer idiocy... again," Karkat spewed out, making John wonder how on Earth he said that in one breath.

"Parties can be kind of fun though, even if they're full of stupid, it's kind of funny to watch all the people get drunk and be silly," John stated innocently, earning himself a nice glare from Karkat.

"You've never been to a party, have you?" He asked blandly, watching as John blushed and looked down guiltily... God that boy was adorable, Karkat thought to himself, as he found himself enthralled with the other man once again, he could hardly keep his eyes off the apparent heterosexual.

"Uhhh..., no," the taller of the two young men stated softly, all through high school he had been too much of..., well..., a dork, to be invited to any parties... Karkat really wasn't any different through his high school years either but somehow he had managed to become friends with a guy called Gamzee, whose parents were chronically absent when he was a teen, and took joy in throwing parties that could rival those of the Great Gatsby himself.

As Karkat calmed down a good bit, the two boys decided that they were bored of the fair, and John insisted that the other man go visit his friend already, as it was getting dark now. Bussing back into town together, Karkat found himself walking his buck tooth friend back to his respective apartment, pausing at the door with him after saying their goodbyes, and from some act of God, John pulled Karkat in a quick hug before bouncing off, thanking him for going to the fair with him, and heading up into his house, leaving a frozen Karkat in the street.

When he came to his senses, Karkat couldn't help a small smile, moving down the street once more, this time towards the bus again, heading to the richer part of town to go see his friend who apparently needed to see him post haste.

Thankfully it didn't take too long to get to Gamzee's house, though the Sun was starting to set, and Karkat was more than a little tired, making him a good bit more grumpy than usual. Banging on the druggy's door, he shouted for Gamzee to open up already, probably bugging some of his neighbors..., not that he cared at this point. He just wanted to know why he was dragged all the way out here to discuss some party that might not even be a thing. There was a good chance that Gamzee was just so high he was making shit up again, after all, he hadn't had one of his parties since high school, about two years ago now.

When the door did open, Karkat was surprised to see Gamzee more or less sober and happy as per usual, as he was welcomed in, hugged, and basically given more attention than what he wanted from a man that had a constant smell of pot on him. Did he shampoo in the stuff?

Led to the living room, Gamzee sat his friend down in one of the overly large arm chairs, and plopped down in the other one, smiling widely. "Hey, my motherfuckin' buddy," he practically purred in that deep voice of his, making Karkat twitch impatiently, especially when he heard what he said next. "So, why have you graced me with your miraculous presence?" He chuckled out, making Karkat want to just punch him in that smiling face..., which he almost did.

"What in the fucking Hell do you mean? You invited me here, you shit-sponge," Karkat huffed, giving him a glare that could set a nun on fire. Somehow, though, it didn't seem to faze Gamzee at all as the insanely tall man just seemed to laugh, nodding, and remembering the phone call once more. Almost everyone who knew Gamzee could swear that the man's head had been permanently brain damaged from all the drugs he had done as a teen and now as a young adult.

"Oh! That's right, how could I motherfucking forget?" Gamzee chuckled, seeming to think for a moment as he remembered why exactly he had invited the other man over..., but when he did remember, he grinned wildly once more. "I wanted to let you know first, in motherfucking person, that I am throwing a party for a very special occasion, and I would be fuckin' honoured if you would come and join us in celebration."

Karkat was a little floored that so many big words left Gamzee's mouth, but he was quick to snap out of it, groaning slightly, "What the fuck are you talking about? What celebration!? It better be 'motherfucking' grand to make me even think of dragging myself over to some steaming pile of shit head soiree you're going to have going on," he snapped back, getting rather vicious..., though he knew that he was probably going to be forced to attend anyway. His only hope would be that Gamzee would just forget that he invited him in the first place.

Gamzee, as per usual, unfazed by Karkat's language, just smiled all the more. "It's a motherfuckin celebration of miracles, bro," he droned for a moment, and just as his crabby old friend was about to spew out something with all the more creative language, he spoke up again. "The biggest miracle I have ever seen, happened to me recently... Tavros said motherfucking yes to marrying me, and of course I thought..., 'Well, this deserves a motherfucking celebration!' So here we are, my friend, planning a party celebrating motherfucking miracles... You could even bring a date, maybe that boy you were speaking about, the flower shop bro," he stated calmly, Karkat only now noticing a ring on his finger... Huh.

Blushing ever so slightly at the mention of John, Karkat started thinking... John had never been to a party before, and usually Gamzee's could be rather wild... Who knows what would happen? Finally agreeing that he would be there, Gamzee seemed ecstatic; he offered Karkat a Faygo a few times before he finally managed to get home at last, collapsing in bed and grinning slightly himself, taking out his phone and not really giving a flying fuck about the current time. Dialing up John, he suddenly felt a burst of nerves when he heard the other male's sleepy voice.

"Karkat, it's pas-"

"Hey John, shut up, I know the time. Gamzee's having a party, he's getting married or some other ridiculous piece of frothing loony block nonsense, and uh... _he _wanted to know if you wanted to go...," Karkat stated, seeming to chicken out to asking him to go himself... Not even thinking about the fact that he hadn't even bothered to explain how Gamzee even knew about John...

He just wanted to hear if John was willing to go, if he had another odd more or less 'date'.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hello friendos.<br>_****_My deepest apologies for the long wait, lots of events happened.  
><em>****_Hope this makes up for it though!  
><em>****_Enjoy and keep up the reviews! I'd love to hear any ideas you have, constructive criticism, anything!  
><em>****_Thank you for reading!_**

-Zoe

**_GamTav until I die._**

-Chisel


	7. John's Shitty Honda Civic

"Karkat! It's one in the morning, I have work tomorrow! Why would you call me, why could this not wait until morning? Did you change the ringer on my cell when you put your number in? It is the most aggravating thing; swear to God, it's worse than your voice!" John seemed to be a tad grumpy being woken up at ungodly hours in the morning, what a weirdo.

"John, shut the fuck up for a minute, okay?" Karkat sighed, for once a little mild in his speech. So maybe he was a little tired from the whole day as well, he was only just finally getting home, but that didn't really diminish his slight everlasting spite in his speech. The other boy actually seemed to start to listen; silence rang out on the other end of the line.

"Wow, you actually listened; don't fucking fall asleep either, all right?" The loud mouthed prick stated over the phone, a little worried that the silence _did _mean that John had drifted off, but he heard a few grumbles from the other end and just went on. "If you want to sleep so badly, then just agree already! The party is next week; don't make me go to the 'miracle' mass moron gathering alone, I need someone to suffer with me!" He complained in a hushed tone to John. This guy can really rant and rave, can't he? John wasn't so certain initially on going to the party, maybe it was because the bitch-ass on the other end of the line had decided to invite him at one in the morning on a work night. Might as well just agree to go so that he can get back to sleep.

"Okay, fine, all right! I'll go to the stupid party or whatever. Now, can I go to bed?" John huffed, not sure if he regretted this decision to go or not. It probably won't be all that bad. It's not like he got invited to parties often, or at all really, so why not go? John would be there with Karkat too, even better. Just two platonic buddies hanging out at a gay couple's pre-wedding party. Absolutely nothing can go wrong, or even right. It'll just be a really average evening. Completely and totally uneventful.

"Oh, uh, sweet. Err, cool, I mean. Thanks. Uh…, okay good night," the boisterous little man was somewhat surprised that his man crush had given in so easily. It might be because he called at one in the morning. Karkat had stumbled on his words, trying desperately to determine what the appropriate reaction was. Were they even at the mutual good night stage of friendship, or is that just a tad bit too forward?

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me more movie tickets for this, man. Good night," John just barely managed to get that response out before quickly hanging up, putting his phone on standby, slamming it graciously onto the nightstand, and letting his head fall into the pillow. The other boy would do the exact same thing on the opposite side of town. The bitter little man softened for a moment in his heart. John said, "Good night," to him. John, this dumb boy who works at a flower shop; this boy who is a total dork and a loser, and yet he's able to make Karkat's heart flutter just from the simple notion of being said, "Good night," to. The man who usually had a frown on his face as he drifted off into unconsciousness, let a legitimate smile creep across his face as he gently shut his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

><p>Karkat almost felt like he had slept the whole week away, it was all an eager blur really; though when it came to the end of each day, the grump was a huge mix of emotions, feeling almost like the day of the party was coming up much too fast; although, at the same time the week dragged on and on. It was a little overwhelming when the day finally did come. He had taken the day off from the low position office job he had gotten for this party, making it a long weekend. It was nice to have a Friday off again. He hadn't had one since high school…, and being jobless.<p>

Karkat found himself slightly lost when he did wake up and found he had to get ready. For once he wanted to impress John, digging around his closet looking for something that wasn't his usual oversized sweater or long sleeved shirt. Eventually settling on a plain black shirt, a pair of skin-tight jeans, and a gray zip up hoodie, he fussed at himself in the mirror for a good while, trying to tame his messy hair a little before just giving up and going to check the time…, only to hear the doorbell ring. Had it already been two hours? Oh God. He couldn't do this, he could not do this! John was waiting at that door, ready to go to this party; they might even get drunk! What if he did something stupid? Biting his lip, and almost drawing blood, Karkat finally caved, heading towards the door.

Thanking whatever strange being might be out there that propelled him to finally open the door, the troll like man seemed completely floored for just a moment, his jaw even dropping slightly when he got a look of John. He was dressed in a pair of dark coloured jeans, and a plain white t-shirt, but what topped it all off was the royal blue vest he had over it, and the ever so slightly matching dressy light jacket of the same colour. By golly he looked brilliant, appearing so tall and slim. It was driving Karkat even more possibly mad than he already was.

"So, uh, you never told me the dress code for this party. I hope this isn't too much," John pouted ever so slightly, adjusting his glasses a bit as he looked over the boy in front of him; he wasn't as dressed up, no, but it was nice to see him in something that was at least a little bit more tight fitting, and he pulled it off damn well… Why was he thinking about it so much? John, stop that.

"It should be fine, if not, you could always take some off," Karkat huffed, smiling at that in his head. He was so clever. After a little bit more chit chat, they were on their way to the party. John managed to get his… rather crappy looking Honda Civic up and running, after being out of commission for about a month. Loading up into that, they were soon on their way, a certain buzz of excitement came off the closer and closer they got to Gamzee's house, Karkat pretty well shouting the directions at John until they were right at the door, being greeted by a timid looking man in a wheelchair, inviting them in with a shy smile.

Let the party begin.

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><p><em><strong>Well this chapter was supposed to go up yesterday, but the site was down... SO HERE IT IS TODAY.<br>**__**ENJOY!**_

-Zoe


	8. Dave the Douche-Nozzle

It was almost amazing how hard the music hit the two once they got through the doorway, the pounding of the bass sent their hearts vibrating about their rib cage, and their minds wondering just how they had managed to keep all that sound in the house. This Gamzee fellow must have invested a good portion of his money…, or whoever's money… to completely sound proofing the house. It couldn't be simply for parties, could it? Neither of the boys particularly wanted to figure that out.

Looking over the party that was in full swing, Karkat could already feel a headache coming on for him. Were all the people here deaf, or did they just have a strong wishing to be that way? The rather… buzz kill of a man was already starting to brainstorm a way of getting the speaker system turned down a few notches. For that, however, he figured he would have to talk to Sollux, if he was even here yet. Then again, it was likely he was, seeing as the speakers were actually functioning. If he wasn't, no one could bet a dollar on Gamzee figuring out how to work the set up, whatsoever.

Looking over at John as he moved slowly from the front door, Karkat noticed he looked completely… in awe? The other man couldn't really figure out that expression on his oh-so-not homosexual friend, as it slowly dawned on him that John had never once been to a party before this one. Oh, well this was going to be one mighty experience for him, and Karkat almost grinned to himself as he started into the crowd, John simply following after him numbly, still processing all that was going on around him. The rather dorky man had never even been drunk before, and here was a slew of different people, some he even recognized from his old high school graduating class, already more than a bit tipsy…, and what was that smell? Oh gee…, was that pot? What the Hell kind of friends did Karkat even have to be invited to this thing!?

John, losing sight of Karkat as the shorter man disappeared into a crowd, on some unknown mission, found himself a little lost in a large room, almost packed, with people he hardly knew, dancing off beat to some techno song whose bass alone could send you into cardiac arrest. So what did people do at parties anyway? Looking around, the young gent didn't find himself wondering for too long, as he noticed that practically everyone had one of those red Solo cups in their hands, sloshing around with some sort of beverage, almost guaranteed to turn you into a stumbling idiot. So, what better idea than to get one?

Really, it didn't take long for the mostly innocent boy to find his way to the drink table, where a pretty smashed girl was pouring the drinks, and more than likely stealing a drink for every one she passed out. John couldn't help but notice that her shirt, which had a lovely pink cat face on it, was slipping off her shoulders slightly…, or maybe it was simply styled that way? The boy wasn't too sure, nor did he really care that much, instead he just nervously stepped forward in line to take a cup from the girl.

Just as he was taking the cup and was about to wander back to where all the other people were dancing, wondering if maybe he could find someone to talk to or something, John heard a giggling from behind, and soon enough there was a soft hand on his shoulder, and the obviously drunk drink-lady was leaning against his shoulder. She peered up at him with large fuchsia eyes, that just had to be a set of very real coloured contacts.

"Jakey… Jakey boy… Did you -hic- get teller?" The girl seemed to blink for a moment at her speech… error, before sighing, "Taller," she corrected herself, the rather large smile on her face all the same as she looked up at John, who she was very much sure was her friend Jake.

"Uh… No, my name's John, and I've always been this height…, well at least since grade twelve," John stated, looking down at the girl with a pretty confused look on his face. He was feeling more than a little uncomfortable, not that he made any move to push her away, instead staying awkwardly frozen there, wondering just what one is supposed to do in a situation where a drunk girl mistakes you for… Wait…, who was this Jakey? Probably her boyfriend… Oh God.

"Come own…"

"On."

"Come on, Jakey, you're -hic- as easfy.."

"Eatsy"

"Esty…"

"Fuck it, I'm getting a drink."

John watched, flabbergasted, as the girl seemed to get completely hung up on her words before simply wandering back to her table to pour herself a cup of…, well…, whatever it was they were all drinking. John didn't actually know, he hadn't tried it yet. Taking the moment that she was gone as an escape, the blue-eyed boy darted off to the main area, where a few people were happily dancing, mostly girls, though there was this one boy getting his groove on with hair that perpetually covered his face. Then there were the ones all lounging on the expensive leather, or was it pleather, couch who looked very content and relaxed as if there were no blasting music shattering their eardrums with every score.

Settling down, or more, leaning against a wall, John tried his drink, smiling slightly at the taste of it, a kind of cranberry taste, with a harsh bite to follow it too. He had no clue what it was, but it was damn good. In no time he was heading back for another cup, occasionally managing to steal a few colourful snacks from a girl who claimed to be blind and managed to lick John a few times, though for some reason he didn't mind too much. His mind felt fuzzy and the music was making him much too happy.

Karkat, on the other hand, was not as happy. Managing to track down Sollux, who appeared to look a little drugged…, but then again, he almost always looked that way, as he was usually either hyped up on energy drinks, or so drained from doing several all nighters on whatever video game he played obsessively. Karkat pushed through the crowed to where Sollux was, next to one of the main speakers, of all places. He was helping to tweak the sound a bit for the guy DJing, who looked like a total douche-nozzle, by the way. Who the Hell wears sunglasses in lighting like this? Douche-nozzles do. Remember that, kids.

"SOLLUX! DOES IT REALLY HAVE TO BE THIS LOUD?" Karkat yelled up at his much too tall, for his liking, friend once he finally got close. Watching as Sollux turned and eyed him through those dual coloured glasses of his, covering up dual coloured eyes, that happened to come in a set of two, as well…, as most do. Though most aren't mismatching.

"KK, what did you say? We're by an obnoxiously loud speaker," Sollux asked, almost smugly, looking down at his grump of a comrade. It was hard to tell if he was just messing with him or not, but Karkat decided that he likely wouldn't turn down the sound anyway and just stomped off in a fury. Now where the Hell did John get to, anyway?

Getting himself back into the main room and not the dance floor that really made him wonder who the heck built this mansion of a house, Karkat finally found his friend… Not before an incredibly awkward conversation with his ex-girlfriend who managed to 'sniff out his rage from miles away'.

Just as he was getting away from her, John seemed to spot Karkat and hurried over to him, stumbling ever so slightly, as by now he had downed about two and a half cups of this mysterious drink, which the drinks lady had slurred out it being a 'crannburry vodka somthin', before going off to bother some girl who looked like she simply just did not want to be there at all, and was more than likely there just to make sure that Roxy, which apparently was the hammered girl's name, didn't go and do something incredibly stupid like drive home, or something.

"Heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy," John…. was drunk. Karkat figured that out in less than a nano-second when he joined him once more, though at least he wasn't as bad as most of the people in the room at the moment. Still, the shorter man wasn't too sure what to do about this fact. "Hey, Karkat, I've got something to show you… upstairs…, in one of the bedrooms," John stated, smiling a smile that dear Karkles had never seen before on the boy, and it made him… blush, ever so slightly, for whatever reason.

"The fuck, John? What the Hell is so important that you want to drag me up all those God damn stairs, that I would bet every fucking dollar your shitty ass car is worth, you've never been up, to show me… what? Like a lint ball or something?" Karkat started to rant, making John frown slightly. He moved, putting a hand over the other man's mouth, effectively shutting him up.

"It's a magic trick, Karkat, I'm going to show you the best magic trick in the world," John grinned, taking the other man's arm and starting to drag him up a magnificent winding staircase, leading to the second floor of this mansion, that looked like it would cost more than what either of the boys would make in all their years combined. John, trying a door a little ways down to the right, seemed to freeze in place as he took in what was hiding inside… His cousin… and his best friend's brother… were making out in a washroom…, and they didn't even think to lock the door. "Jake? Dirk?" He asked softly, dumbfounded, before Karkat grabbed onto his arm yanking John away rather rudely, and shutting the door on the very shocked couple, one of which looked absolutely mortified just before the door shut once more.

John, in his slightly drunken state, soon forgot about what he had just seen, instead focusing back on the task he was planning, pulling the shorter man into a, thankfully empty, bedroom. Promptly pushing him in and onto a bed, Karkat was wildly confused and likely about to yell something at John before the door was closed and the young man climbed eagerly ontop of him…, and it was then made very clear what the magic trick was.

"John, you're drunk," Karkat stated weakly, though that didn't stop his eyes from wandering the other man's form.

"And horny."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well this chapter took a while.<strong>_  
><em><strong>I blame school.<br>****And life.  
><strong>**And basically everyone but me.  
><strong>**ENJOY THE CLIFFHANGER HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**_

-Zoe


	9. Karkat's Panties

_**Warning: there is sexually explicit content in this** **chapter.**_

* * *

><p>With that, the two boys had a moment, which was likely just a second or two long, but to them… it was like a whole era of just staring at each other, both a little unsure on what to do next…, and what it was they wanted to do. It didn't last that long, however, as John lowered himself down, putting his weight against the other man and using his hands to clumsily grasp onto Karkat's jaw, beginning to place rather sloppy kisses to his lips, then slowly down his jaw and neck, drunken mind just barely registering the difference between kissing a man, and that one kiss he had with a girl back in high school.<p>

Karkat, on the other hand, was in pure shock… over two things really… One, that John was currently kissing him, and oh God, was that a nip? The other thing… He could clearly feel the other man's excitement pressing into his stomach, and in that few moments of shock and kisses, he could feel himself mirroring the eagerness. Really, who would fight the person they fell head over heels for on whether or not to have sex, even if they were a bit drunk? Certainly not Karkat, who was starting to return the favour, reaching his hands down and grasping onto John's hips, to get better leverage in what he was about to do…, which was grind slightly roughly against the other man. The two boys let out, almost synchronized gasps, both feeling the pleasure of semi-hard members rub, not only against each other, but the ever so slightly rough fabric of their pants.

Not being able to help themselves from doing that a few times more, Karkat found that he was going to have to stop all that before he achieved an embarrassing early finish to what was to be a grand night. Well he hopped it would be, but really he was starting to have some second thoughts. Was this really a good idea? Wasn't this technically taking advantage of John? No matter how much he wanted it, he didn't want it if John was only doing it because he was drunk. Summoning up some strength Karkat didn't even know he had, the shorter man managed to roll them over, so he was the one on top, straddling John ever so slightly.

"This isn't a good idea, you don't know what you're doing, you're drunk! You're going to regret it in the morning," Karkat practically barked, almost as if he was having a little trouble retaining his composure… Likely as John was still wriggling slightly, rubbing up against the eternally grumpy man.

"It's not morning yet, so why not have our fun Karkat? If I'm going to regret it, it's already done pretty much. Plus it's just two bros having sex, it's no big deal," John slurred out, a goofy grin on his face for a moment as he looked up at Karkat. Yeah. Not gay at all.

Karkat, seeming to think that over for a moment, simply glaring down at John, until his mind was made up with an especially blissful grind of hips against his, he simply muttered a 'fuck it' and let his hands explore the man under him, a thing he never thought he would do in his lifetime. They were passed the point of no return, it seemed.

Starting to pull at John's clothes, Karkat managed to shed him of both his shirt and pants, leaving him in a pair of boxers, decorated with what looked to be the Ghostbusters' logo on repeat. Taking the time to try and look over every part of John, Karkat trailed rough kisses down his neck and chest, making sure to leave marks whenever he could, having that slight want to simply claim the other as his, for as long as humanly possible. Being far too focused on doing that, Karkat hardly noticed that John was removing his own clothes until they were… well… gone, and soon enough there was a slight snort of laughter at something or-

Oh. Right.

He may have worn a pair of panties that day. What could he say? They were comfortable, soft, and more than a little flattering, in his opinion. Still, those reasons didn't stop Karkat's face from flushing bright red. Doing the only thing that he could think of to stop the slight laughing directed at him, the man wearing the lady's panties moved down once more, claiming John in a deep kiss, nipping at his lips to gain entrance, before exploring gladly…, even if he did taste a lot like vodka.

John, to say the least, stopped his giggling at the kiss and melted against the other man, seeming to remember what they were about to do. John started to advance it in a desperate need, one hand clawing the back of Karkat, ever so slightly, as the other trailed down a slightly darker skinned chest, to the tented panties. He ran an open palm over the member that was starting to make a bit of a damp patch on the candy red panties, likely from pre-cum.

Breaking the kiss when suddenly the panties were pulled off completely, Karkat tried to gage John's reaction to… well… him, and was a little surprised to hear a small, "Whoa buddy," from the taller man, who was openly ogling him, boosting the other man's pride ever so slightly, giving him the confidence to do just the same, and was rather impressed by what he found.

Seeming to be stuck once more, just ogling each other's members, free of their restraints, yet still pulsing painfully, John was the first to speak up, catching the other man by surprise. "So… uh… are you just going to stick it in?" he asked, awkwardly, as he couldn't keep his eyes off that other man, wanting to… touch it, maybe even taste it…, but nerves seemed to be edging onto him.

Taken by surprise at the fact that John wanted him to top, Karkat thought the totally-not-gay man would have wanted to take lead, not that he minded at all, instead he just awkwardly reached to his pants, pulling out a condom that just happened to be bright red, and thankfully lubed. Sollux gave it to him as a gift on Valentine's Day, just to rub it in that he wasn't getting any on that day, or something like that. Well, hah to him! He had no idea why it was in his pocket though. Oh well. You don't question these things.

Sliding it on and making sure to check that it was indeed lubed, just in case, Karkat could not say he really had experience in any of this, he had never gotten this far with anyone before in his life, and he wondered slightly if he was supposed to do something before just pushing in… Not wanting to think it over any longer, though, and make himself look even more like the virgin he was, Karkat positioned himself at John's entrance, grabbing onto his sides he pushed in as smoothly as he could. He got halfway in before he had to stop due to hot walls clamping down on him, making him give a low moan of approval… John didn't seem to feel the same as his eyes seemed to water slightly under the glasses that somehow remained on…, though a little crooked.

Wow that was painful. John tried to relax himself, as Karkat seemed to now be telling him to do, fussing at him through low moans; the impaled man had a hard time believing that Karkat was only halfway in. Eventually, as the pain ebbed away, John shifted slightly, causing a slight jolt of pleasure to rock through him. Now suddenly eager once more, he urged Karkat to move once again.

Pushing all the way in, Karkat stopped for a moment to try and gather himself, there was no need to finish too fast, plus he really didn't want to hurt John, though soon enough he was being urged once more, which started up a slowly climbing pace of rocking into John. Pulling almost completely out and then pushing in once more, Karkat let out a slew of noises that John never even knew were possible for a human to make until now. Feeling the other man strike some sort of nerve in him, John suddenly cried out, surprisingly loud… Not that they cared anyway, the music from the floor down was still pounding through them, almost as hard as Karkat was inside of John.

Aiming to hit that magical spot over and over, Karkat growled into the joined moans of his new lover, "F-fuck John… I can't… Ahhh-hah… Jooohn," he groaned out slowly, thrusting in sporadically a couple of times before stilling completely as he finished into the tight condom, almost collapsing on the panting man beneath him, who glistened with a slight coat of sweat.

Taking a moment to catch his breath and slowly pull out, John was frowning just slightly, seemingly being denied his own finish as Karkat looked just about ready to fall asleep…, until he noticed the other man's rock hard member still standing proud and he paused. There was no way in hell he was going to let the man he was extremely attracted to, go without enjoying his first very-much-not-gay experience.

Shifting ever so slightly, Karkat shed the dirtied condom before nudging John to spread his legs once more as the shorter man ducked down, catching John by surprise as he licked all the way up the long pulsating vein on the bottom side of his cock before taking the tip into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue, before dipping down and taking as much as he could into his mouth, bobbing nicely and trying to avoid scraping his teeth against the sensitive skin.

Groaning loudly at the bursts of pleasure suddenly shooting through him as Karkat practically deep throated him, John found his hands tangled in the messy black hair. Not being able to help himself from bucking up into the warm mouth, making Karkat have to pin his hips down to stop himself from being completely choked by it all, John was seeing stars. To say the least, it didn't take John long to reach his finish. Releasing himself with hardly a warning into Karkat's mouth, the man pulled off with a wet pop, making a bit of a face when he had to swallow the man's seed. He wiped off the slight string of drool off his face and grunted slightly when suddenly he was pulled down to lay on the bed once more, finding John pulling him close and curling around him, nuzzling into his chest and managing to fall asleep. Karkat joined in after a few moments, smiling softly to himself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I jokingly suggested that Karkat wear panties. I didn't think she'd actually write it in. This is excellent.<strong>_

-Chisel


	10. Christmas in July

With music blaring and the sound of drunken footsteps stumbling outside their door, it was amazing that the boys got any sleep at all, let alone all the way until morning, when most of the crowd had either fallen asleep or departed. This made it a little less awkward for what followed… A little, but it was still pretty well in the range of traumatizing; it was so awkward. It all started when John woke up.

Groaning as he did, John slowly blinked open blue eyes, to be met with a sight which he was slowly starting to remember what had preceded it. Oh… Oh god…, did he? No, he couldn't have done anything like that. Not with his good friend Karkat… Not with another man! HE WASN'T GAY. Hurriedly jumping out of the room, managing to grab his boxers on the way, he dashed off into the nearest bathroom only to sink down in the corner of it, feeling his eyes start to water as he appeared to be on the verge of a panic attack.

Grabbing at his phone, John seemed to be operating without thought, mainly because all thoughts were currently a jumbled jumping mess inside his head. When they were like that, it was likely he wouldn't get out of it without the help of a friend… So he decided to call his friend Dave. He was cool. He would know what to do, right? Right. Yes. Good plan John. Just stop the shaking in your hands and press the call button.

Finally managing to do just that, the boy didn't even know he was holding his breath as he waited for the ringing to end…, which it only did to get to a brief and slightly rapped answering machine. Refusing to leave a message as a crying mess, as he had a feeling that could possibly be used as blackmail in some sort of episode, instead he decided to repeatedly call his friend, hoping to get ahold of him before he reached the limit on his calling minutes just from waiting and listening to the tone. It wasn't until about the sixth call did he finally get ahold of Dave, who had apparently been sleeping. Well, it was about six in the morning on a Sunday.

"John, what the fuck!?" was the first thing he heard, blaring through the slightly static-y speaker of the phone. Unfortunately all he could offer was a painfully pathetic half sob, half, "Hi."

"Uhhh… John? What the fuck?" this time Dave at least sounded a lot less angry, seeming to figure out that whatever this was, was probably topping the scales of important at epic proportions.

"Uhm… Uhm… Okay… Hi Dave?" all right, yes, he could do this. Right John, you've got this, just calm yourself. It took a good bit of repeating that to himself before he finally calmed down enough to find his voice. Well, that didn't exactly mean he could find words as well, did it? Crap.

"... Hi." Dave… was trying not to lose his cool or anything, but he was getting a little… irritated at not only the early morning call, but also about not knowing what the heck was going on at the other end of the line. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait too much longer as soon enough the words came in a huge, almost breathless rush, that made it a bit hard to understand.

"Oh God Dave, I think I… I had sex last night. I think I was drunk, I mean, I had to be, it was with… It was with Karkat and uhm. That can't be right, really, I'm not gay, Dave! There is no way I could have done anything like that, and certainly not enjoy it too! I'm just not into that, I couldn't have done that kind of thing, I must have just fallen asleep beside him and… and got too hot in bed…, so… yeah. Right? Dave?"

"John. Breathe, dude. Calm down. So you had sex with a man, it's not a big deal, really," Dave was almost finding it a little funny how worked up John was about this. Though of course he wouldn't dare let out even a chuckle at his friend at a time like this, he had at least some awareness of his friend's feelings and doing something like that… Well…, that just wouldn't be cool at all.

John, who was actually starting to calm down for a moment before he was reminded of the fact that he had indeed slept with someone who happened to be of the masculine gender, he gave a slight groan…, though maybe it was more like a whine really. "Dave! NO! I didn't… do that. I'm not gay!" he protested again, and after about two more minutes of that, his friend finally seemed to have enough.

"Dude, you're so far in the closet you're finding Christmas presents," Dave huffed, and the sound made as he fell into his own bed once more was heard across the phone line. "Time to open those closet doors and unleash what ever repressed man-loving emotions you were keeping under closed doors," before he could go on to say anything else, a door swung open and John gave a small yelp, scrambling to stand and hang up the phone as Karkat so rudely barged in, dressed only in a pair of boxers.

"John, what the fuck!? What do you think I am? You can't just fuck me then leave me to wake up alone, that's God damn rude! I'm not someone you can bang then leave!" he practically roared, obviously a little angry over the fact he had just woken up from a night he very much enjoyed, only to be met with a cold and empty bed.

Karkat was fuming as he glared up at the boy standing in front of him, dressed only in a pair of briefs and looking for a loss of words… "I'm not gay," was the first thing to leave his mouth, and the last as the shorter man seemed to completely spill over at that point, and it was amazing that half the house didn't wake up at the yell of "My dick was in your ass, and if that's not gay, I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IS!" that chased after John as he darted out of the ridiculously large house, a bundle of clothes in his arms, which he scrambled to put on once he had sprinted down the block to safety.

Not even bothering to chase after him, Karkat sighed and moved to leave the washroom only to walk square into the very bare chest that smelled overwhelmingly like pot. "Hey motherfuckin' friend, what's all this ruckus about? Thought I should come check on you," a goofy looking grin spread across Gamzee's face, it was obvious he was pretty high…, but when was he not? It was also obvious that he was standing in only a pair of polka-dotted boxers, which was a little more surprising to Karkat, who backed up pretty fast.

"Fuck it, I don't know. I don't want to talk about it," Karkat grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and starting to edge his way past his abnormally tall friend to go back home, though he stopped half way towards the stairs, turning on his heel and changing his mind. "Actually, I do want to talk about it. My mind right now, it's like mold-festering shithole, and I want to yell at something, so it might as well be something breathing!" he huffed, yanking Gamzee to his room with him, not really waiting for the answer, not that the taller man seemed to care at all, instead simply accepting his fate and following after his mighty good friend. Happy to know they were probably going to end up in another 'feelings jam'.

MEANWHILE

John, finally fully dressed and now standing at a street corner, was not really having a good morning. On top of all that, he remembered that he had gotten to the party via Karkat, and he had no clue where he was. It took a good thirty minutes of wandering before he found something familiar to him, and it so happened to be in the form of his cousin's house. Marching desperately up the steps, he banged on the door a few times until he heard steps and a grumble or two. Soon enough the door swung open with a creak, and an older male that looked surprisingly like him, though he was smiling a lot more brilliantly at the moment.

"Hey, John! My, old chap, what are you doing here so early in the morning?" Jake asked, completely and utterly oblivious to everything that had happened, and what an earful he was about to have at seven in the morning.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Woah. Wow. Okay. This was a tad bit late, wasn't it?<em>**

**_Sorry bout that, I'm going through a tad bit of writers block, and my dear editor took a bit of vacation for exams and other fun reasons such as seeing Lady Gaga. Lucky duck.  
>Sorry about the lateness, hopefully the next one wont be as tardy!<br>-Zoe_**


	11. Blowin' In a Whole New Direction

There was a number of times that Jake had to intervene and practically shove a cup of tea in his cousin's face simply to get him to take a breath and calm down so that he didn't pass out thanks to sheer breathlessness. To say the least, John was still rather flustered with the whole ordeal that he had just gone through, and the hundreds of new and unfamiliar feelings that were rushing through his mind. However, the most confusing part, John was starting to find, was not that he had just been, to be frank, fucked in the ass by his good friend, but that these feelings that he was having seemed to be just not as unfamiliar to him than what he first thought. Which hurt the mind even to think about!

Eventually Jake did get the younger man to calm down, drink his tea, and wipe away a few tears that still lingered from the sheer overwhelmingness of this whole ordeal. "Well, my young lad, that simply is quite the predicament," Jake stated with a puff, almost getting overwhelmed himself with the whole explanation. Just as he was starting to form some sort of question to ask of John, likely about a few more details of how this all came about, when someone else came bounding down the stairs.

Dirk, already dressed and looking as smooth as ever, even though he was a tad bit hung over, and wondering where and why his boyfriend had ditched him in bed for, stopped and stared at the scene of the two cousins settled on the couch together, one with notably puffy eyes, and the other one practically pleading for help silently at his lover standing frozen on the stairs for a moment. "Uh… yo?" Dirk stated, shaking off his bewilderment and plunking down on the couch just as Jake jumped up and hightailed it up the stairs with the excuse that he needed to get changed into something presentable, while in reality he needed to get a slight grasp on his own thoughts from that baffling tail from his dear John.

"So, man, what are you doing here so early?" Dirk asked, trying not to be as blunt as he wanted to, as it looked as if John would crumble if you even just looked at him funny… If only to prove that point, it was a good couple of minutes before John spoke up at last.

"I… I don't know," he stated at first before shaking his head and lifting his glasses to rub at irritated blue eyes. "W-well I mean, I do know…, but… Ach. Look, okay, here goes. I just had sex…, but it was with a guy! A-a-and I'm NOT gay," John finished, straining to keep a hold on his emotions and stay settled down. While what he said was actually pretty embarrassing to tell your best friend's brother, he so wasn't about to burst into another panic attack… for like the fifth time.

"Huh. Well. Did you enjoy it? Like the sex, was it nice?" Dirk asked, aware he was being a little frank, if John's shocked expression stood to say anything, but frankly, he just did not give a damn.

"W-what? I… I guess I didn't th-think... Well, yeah, I guess, maybe I might have…," the young man said meekly. Sure he was a little drunk when it happened, but he could remember that it was pretty nice. It felt good, and though he was mad and upset, it really wasn't at Karkat, nor was it a disgust of, well, what had happened. It was more like a weird panic and identity crisis all rolled into one.

"So what does it matter then? Who cares if you're both guys, if you enjoyed it, you enjoyed it. Labels don't mean shit bro," Drik's low voice cut through the race of thoughts berrading the other man, and the silence that answered seemed fitting and much more calm, as John settled down into the couch a little more drawing his knees to his chest as Jake rejoined them on the couch, bringing some old crappy adventure movie with him. As it was popped into a dust covered VCR, there was a small groan from the two men slouched on the couch as they realized they had unwillingly signed up for an early morning movie showing of what looked to be a weird Indiana Jones rip off.

MEANWHILE AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

Gamzee was almost always content to have a nice sit down with his good friend Karkat, and listen to whatever the little guy may have to say when he actually did decide to talk… Which was becoming an all the more rare occasion between the two of them. The ever so slightly high man determined it must simply be because Karkat was doing all right on his own, and would bring something up when it needed to be brought up. It was funny how shit worked like that. It was some kind of miracle really.

Tuning in and out of Karkat's rant, the slightly goofy man was doing his best to sit tight and figure out something to tell his obviously distraught little buddy to calm him down… He probably should actually listen first of all.

"-and like, I understand that I could be in the wrong here, I mean I'm pretty sure John was at least a little bit drunk, but man he came to me! If a cute-ass boy comes up to you wanting to fuck your brains out, how the hell are you supposed to say no? Sure, maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him after when he was pretty obviously panicking, but what is there to panic about!? Am I that horrible of a person to fuck? I frankly thought it was pretty good. So what if we're both guys? What is he getting his shit up in a twist for, what's a little gay sex between friends? Err…, wait no, that sounded awful. Is it the more than friends part that got him all worked up? AM I THAT SCARY OF A PERSON TO BE WITH!?"

Obviously Karkat was getting a little out of hand, but thankfully he was easily silenced with a soft 'pap' to his cheek. Leaning against the short man, who, being silenced, awaited impatiently what Gamzee was planning on saying that he seemed to have to think so long about. He was more than expecting it to be complete nonsense.

"It's like a motherfuckin' sunflower used to growing with the wind blowing it one way, the little fucker would probably drop all of its precious seeds if suddenly it found itself blowin' in a whole new direction." Okay. So maybe it was just half nonsense, Karkat decided.

After a while of cooling down from that mind boggling experience, Gamzee figured it was time to take his leave, and wandered out to have another smoke, and maybe cuddle up to Tav until moving was actually necessary. Finding himself alone, Karkat attempted to clean up the room they had kind of… sullied last night, before just collapsing on the other side of the bed, getting himself dressed and looking as proper as he could be in an over-sized grey sweater.

Unable to avoid temptation for much longer, Karkat took out his phone and pondered what he was about to do for some time before dialing in John's number. Listening to the shrill ring against his ear go off three times before the answering machine picked up, Karkat hung up before figuring that he probably ought to leave a message… So he promptly called back again only to do the same thing. What the Hell was John doing anyway that was so important he couldn't answer his fucking phone? Damn it!

MEANWHILE… THE IMPORTANCE

John, actually starting to enjoy this totally not shitty movie, had pretty well forgotten his cellphone on the couch, and having slunk down onto the carpet to watch the movie a little more closely, had no clue about the almost constant buzzing it was doing with all the missed calls. Dirk, being the closest to it, was actually slumped onto Jake, having fallen asleep out of sheer boredom of the movie he was more or less forced to stay and watch with them, obviously was dead to it as well. It was only until the phone buzzed itself right off the couch did it become noticed. Much less to John than it did to Jake, who moved to pick it up, waking Dirk up in the process. Amazingly, John was still happily focused on the movie until it was so rudely paused by his cousin.

"John, old sport, you seem to have twenty missed calls from a fellow named Karkat… Is that the one who err…?" Jake trailed off on that note as John lept up, a little too fast to be deemed not suspicious, as he snatched the phone out of the older man's hands. Checking his messages, he frowned at the voicemails, sitting himself down once more to shuffle through them all.

"He wants to talk to me." He sighed finally, looking a little torn, he wasn't too sure if he was ready to talk to him just yet… Dirk, however, seemed to leap at the chance to do anything but watched that crap movie any longer.

"Good idea, I think I'll go pick the little bro up right now. He's still at the party house? Yes? Cool," he stated, hightailing it out of there without much time to put up any resistance as he drove down to meet whoever this Karkat dude was. Hell, he had to be less irritating than that B-rated film.

_**So, wowzers is this ever late. **_

_**So what happened, you might ask?**_

_**Life. Life happened. BUT! Me and Chisel should be back and up and running again, so hopefully the next one wont be months waits away!**_

_**Thank you to those loyal bunch who stayed patient while a series of unfortunate events happened over here, hopefully we start getting a nice routine here to keep you all busy with all the ships.**_

_**Do enjoy,**_

_**-Zoe (Plushies)**_


	12. Doughnuts with a side of Tears

Dirk didn't know that anything could have ever been worse than a B-Rated horror film. He hadn't known, that was, until the moment he had pulled up beside a very disheveled looking kid with what seemed to be tear stains under dark eyes, glaring and muttering down at his cellphone. "Hey. You the kid I'm supposed to pick up?" he asked, rolling down the tinted window of the very orange sports car he was currently pulling towards the curb.

In retrospect, Karkat probably should have been a little more suspicious of the guy in pointy shades pulling up next to him in a sports car, but really… no one could say that he was in his right mind at the moment anyway. "Uhh. What?" he simply frowned, furrowing brows at the Texan and slowly lowering his phone from his face.

"Did you have sex with my husband's cousin?" Dirk drawled out once again, surprisingly calm with the incredibly odd question. Like this was a completely normal thing to be asking young adults on the street.

"What the fuck? What?" Was all Karkat could come up with, before things started to click. John had agreed to speak to him, but then wasn't answering any calls… So either this guy was actually sent to pick him up, or in a few minutes he was going to be dead and dumped down that gorge just outside of town. Well. He supposed it was worth the risk. "I… I guess I did? I think?" he finally stuttered out.

"What do you mean you think? Man, you kids must be having some strange sex ed classes, not knowing if you stuck your dick in something or not." Dirk huffed, waiting for a moment, assuming the little man was going to hop in the car. What was he waiting for? A printed invitation? "You getting in bro? Or am I wasting my gas?" He huffed after a couple minutes long. Karkat, swallowing thickly, nodded and took the risk. Slipping into the car, it wasn't long before they were cruising down back to Jake's house.

Dirk found it a little funny how a five minute drive could feel like an hour when you were listening to an angry little man going off about your spouse's little cousin's bed habits. Man, he should have just stayed and watched that awful movie.

The house couldn't have come in sight soon enough, and whipping into the driveway, Dirk popped the side door open, watching as Karkat hopped out of the car. "You… aren't coming in?" Karkat asked, staring nervously up at the surprisingly large house. Man, these guys had money.

"No. I'm getting doughnuts." With that, the car door closed with a soft click of an automated piston, and the sports car was pulling out the driveway with surprising speed. There was no way Dirk was going anywhere near both what would inevitably be an awkward conversation, and the rest of that movie. At least, not until he really needed to, and had something to stuff in his mouth so he wouldn't have to answer any stupid questions.

Figuring that if these guys wanted to kill him, it would have already happened, Karkat watched as Dirk drove off before wandering to the door and softly knocking on it.

"Hey Dirk, is that you? Did you get that… John! What's his name?!" Jake more yelled at the door rather than getting up to answer it. It was unlocked anyway.

"Uhh. This is Karkat. Is John there?" Well this was a little awkward, yelling through a door. To what seemed to be a man with an incredibly thick British accent.

There was a momentary pause, and a soft sound of footsteps before the door creeked open to show a man who looked surprisingly similar to John…, but older, and a little taller. And was that a GUN? "Oh! Hello lad! I suppose Dirk went off somewhere…," Jake tried to lean and get a look at the driveway.

"He went to get doughnuts," came a brief answer.

"Ah. Well. Can't complain about that, now can we? I picked a good man. Come in, I suppose. John's on the couch… We're watching The Attack of the Killer Candles… Three."

Most of that went on dull ears, however, as Karkat had finally caught blue eyes and was already starting towards the couch. "Okay first I kind of wanted to apologise for really freaking out on you… And I've thought it through and I'd really like to talk about it, so say what you have to say, and then I'll go… Please?" he stated awkwardly, eyes glued to the floor, only darting up when he thought that maybe John wasn't looking at him.

"I guess talking about it wouldn't hurt," John stated simply, through an awkward silence starting to fill the room. So many thoughts were still flying through his head about this. Just the fact that Karkat was near made his heart beat nervously against his chest as he remembered the events of last night.

Watching as the said man, his first man, which was still weird because he was still having trouble swallowing the fact that maybe… just maybe, he was a little bit homosexual. "Look…, I'm not mad at you. Well, I guess I kind of am, a little bit, but I'm still not too sure why… This is a ton to handle. I'm not gay! Or, I wasn't before I… Well I'm not sure now, which is frustrating, because I was so convinced I wasn't but then I obviously enjoyed myself last night, and that's pretty scary for some reason. So right now I think I need to think things over, okay? I do like you Karkat, we've had a ton of fun and stuff, but I really am… This is happening way too fast for me, I need time to think, okay?" All the words came in a rush, to the point where Jake called from the kitchen to remind him to breathe halfway through it. Tears were brimming under thick glasses again, but John bit them back, simply hugging his knees to his chest and starting to calm as he felt dark eyes taking him in.

Karkat was learning, slowly and surely, that in times like these, it was pretty easy to let his emotions get the best of him. He knew he got angry really easily, and he could feel a bit of it brimming in the pit of his stomach. Taking a deep breath, Karkat let it all sink in for a moment before nodding. "Is it okay if I speak now?" he asked softly, and once he got a nod, he started, taking care not to let his voice get too loud.

"Okay, so, I know that I was really stupid to agree to doing anything, you were drunk… So was I, but that isn't an excuse, so I'm sorry I agreed to even do anything like that with you. I am also sorry for freaking out too, I just felt like I was kind of being used. I've liked you… that way, for as long as I've met you, and it finally felt like I was with you, and that maybe something would work. Then it all got ripped away, and it didn't feel good… But, I still really like you, and it still really hurts to think that I might have seriously fucked everything up between us," he said, actually getting brave enough to look at John as he spoke.

"And I wanted to ask if you would still maybe consider a relationship, we'd take it really slow. Snail pace… If you would just give me a chance?" There was almost a plea to his voice by the end of it, which had Jake eyeing him from across the room. A silent glare telling him to watch himself, he was not about to let his cousin get guilted into a relationship.

"Karkat… I… I'm really going to need some time to think about everything, all right?" John answered at last.

"But I-" Karkat cut himself off as green eyes narrowed at him, and he could have sworn he saw a hand twitch towards that gun holster. "I understand… Take all the time you need," he breathed, even attempting to offer a bit of a crooked smile, of which John did his best to return as well.

"Yo! I got doughnuts. Who wants some?" There was a call from the front door, and the sound of a shoe pushing a door shut, before Dirk was seen placing a large box of doughnuts on the counter, after swinging by to place a kiss on Jake's cheek.

"Sooo… Should I leave, or?" Karkat spoke up, as the other's started towards the freshly baked pastries. There was yet another awkward pause as both Jake and Dirk looked towards John, seeming to only let themselves breathe when there came a soft nod.

"You can stay…, and have a doughnut too. We're about to watch the extended cut version of The Wickerman," John smiled, flashing buck teeth, and completely ignoring the blatant groan that came from Dirk.

**Well this has certainly been a long delay on this chapter.  
>I am honestly very sorry about that! I had been finishing up highschool, and applying to collages. It was a busy time!<br>I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope that this time the next chapter isn't like... a year late.**

**~Zoe**


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